Who speaks for the black community?

[Robert]

Very insightful. I may have to check out this book. False Black Power by James Riley. Great interview. Back in May 2019, but very current. 48 minutes, so settle back and listen.

[video][/video]

[Joy]

See if this link works. I just watched it without FB cutting me off due to my not being a member.

[Wade]

Maybe my view is tainted because of my experience:
So far every single person whether Christian or non who is pro Black Lives Matters or black lives do matter quickly throws accusations (typically racist) at anyone who doesn't completely agree.
And most people I have interacted with including a bunch of atheists are quoting people under attack who have said things like, "We are all one race under God!"
So really I am excited that so many of my atheist friends are turning from media influences to considering Christ - I just hope that none of them come in contact with any "Christians" that would rather magnify skin colour than magnify that with God we are one race.

Hi, Wade. I'm Jim Foxvog. I'm a Bible-believing Mennonite Christian who is pro Black Lives Matter. I really think that black lives do matter. I do not think I've thrown accusations "at anyone who doesn't completely agree." Do you?
Yes, biblically and scientifically we are all one race. That's very important. However, "race" also has a cultural meaning that profoundly affects people's experiences. To ignore that is not being racist, but it shows unawareness of oppression that many experience.

This got me thinking more about who speaks for the black community.

Last year when my wife's grandfather passed away a family feud erupted and we were not allowed to go to the funeral. Being a Catholic family there isn't much of a greater insult.
We don't even know what the feud is about but we were able to go to a reception - I think all but one of the 8 children(aunts and uncles of my wife) were present plus spouses and then many grandchildren. Most people were on pins and needles and tense and the mood of a funeral and feud made for some awkwardness.

So here I am a skinny, very white, blond haired, blue eyed man, in dress shirt buttoned to the top with six children and modestly dress wife with headcovering... Let the patriarchal, sexist, racist and whatever biases chew on that...

And guess who I ended up talking to in the corner for a good portion of our time there: one of my wife's aunt's new boyfriends: a big burly black man with full sleeves tattoos in his muscle shirt and shorts. We talked about work and things and finally when things felt comfortable enough I brought God into the conversation. He hesitated and even looked around as if he didn't want anyone to hear and did give a half-hearted acceptance of God. Interestingly, the conversation was able to continue and as we peeled back each others thoughts of God the decision increased in comfortability and no longer was there hesitation or worry of others around us hearing. I think this happened because we were able to listen and accept one another's perspectives. We ended with a hug and thoughts of continued prayer for his son who is mixed up in some bad lifestyle choices in the inner city with continued altercations with the police.

Oh, and he is from Vancouver. His perspective was one of inner city black living and trouble with police himself and mine a small white town hick.
My wife didn't receive one but rather a few messages from her aunt saying that her boyfriend was so happy that he came and loved getting to meet and talk with me and they'd like to come out for a visit to see us again.

So, because of personal real experiences I have had with black people I will continue to be critical of the media, white people calling me racist, and the rest of you - even if you are right I will be more interested in listening to real black people and their own experiences.

With my wife's aunts boyfriend BLM never came up, or any disrespect toward police but rather each of our own responsibilities - he choose to magnify doing right rather than the fault of others - besides God working in his life I believe his attitude deserves much credit for what he has overcome and so far that one meeting with such a wonderful person is one of great blessing to my life.

[Joy]

Very insightful. I may have to check out this book. False Black Power by James Riley. Great interview. Back in May 2019, but very current. 48 minutes, so settle back and listen.

[video][/video]

He speaks from the perspective of what is good for the black community.

[RZehr]

The heart of Christ led him to dramatic protests, the Messianic march on Jerusalem and the disruption of temple commerce. "Wake up!"

I think the donkeys owner protested more than Jesus did.

[appleman2006]

Very insightful. I may have to check out this book. False Black Power by James Riley. Great interview. Back in May 2019, but very current. 48 minutes, so settle back and listen.

[video][/video]

I almost hesitate to say how good this video is for fear some of you will not bother watching it but seriously folks if you are all as open minded as you claim to be and you want to hear an intellectual perspective of someone thinking way outside of the box compared to a lot of what we are hearing today you should listen to this. He makes some really good points about almost 100 years of black history that is largely being ignored.
And he also alludes to something else that I have observed for a long time which is that certain people in power do not want races getting along. For very selfish reasons.

[JimFoxvog]

I have been accused by every pro BLM person in face to face interactions if I don't say I support BLM. And it depends on the next part whether you are accusing or not.

Yes, biblically and scientifically we are all one race. That's very important. However, "race" also has a cultural meaning that profoundly affects people's experiences. To ignore that is not being racist, but it shows unawareness of oppression that many experience.

If you mean skin colour when you say "race" has a cultural meaning; then I can agree with that as long as it is based on location as well. Because without that missing piece of location aren't you suggesting that every single black person I see should be viewed as growing up in the worst parts of cities in the USA carrying a cultural baggage? Do you know what the black population is in the world? Should I treat every black person automatically with sympathy and quite possibly offend them. My sister-in-law had a black fiancé who was born in Africa but grew up well off in Italy - should I have assumed a bunch of things about him? So, if you could be implying that I show an unawareness of oppression from peoples experience by rather listening to the people directly instead of buying into the understanding projected in the media then; yes, possibly it sounds like you are accusing too.

OK, we're good. I don't have any reason to think you're racist, and certainly am not making that judgement. Of course it's good to listen to people directly.

[Josh]

I'm sure this video will just be dismissed as "videos that come across your Facebook feed" or "cherry-picking black people who agree with you instead of listening to Bootstrap's statistics of what black people think".

[JimFoxvog]

The heart of Christ led him to dramatic protests, the Messianic march on Jerusalem and the disruption of temple commerce. "Wake up!"

I think the donkeys owner protested more than Jesus did.

At the conclusion of the messianic march, which proclaimed that Jesus (and therefore not Ceasar) was the rightful king, Jesus entered the temple.

Then Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts, and turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. And he said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are turning it into a den of robbers!”

That sounds like protest language to me.

[barnhart]

Very insightful. I may have to check out this book. False Black Power by James Riley. Great interview. Back in May 2019, but very current. 48 minutes, so settle back and listen...

I might have a few thoughts about this interview if you start a thread for it.